This is part 2.  Click HERE to read part 1.

Circus Circus Circus Acts **** This we LOVED! Another great freebie!  Every 15 minutes there are circus acts in the big top.  My kids could stay all day.  There are also inexpensive midway games and many of them guarantee your child will win a stuffed animal. (I can’t even tell you how many of these I gave to Goodwill when we moved!  LOL) 

Fountains at Caesars Palace (In Forum Shops underground shopping area.) ** This is something to see if you happen to be in the Forum Shops when the show happens.  It is VERY loud and hard to understand.  (My daughter was terrified of this too! LOL)  I could live without seeing it.  But, it is free. 

Aquarium at Ceasars Palace ** There is a big aquarium you can look at for free.  It’s pretty.  There is also a free tour of how they take care of the aquarium.  You get to go “back stage” and see all the equipment.  It’s pretty interesting and again, it’s free!  LOL  I wouldn’t make a special effort to do this unless you have a budding Marine Biologist in the family.

Leid Children's Museum **** Finally something that is BIG in Las Vegas!  LOL  This we LOVED!  We  had a season pass to the museum and went frequently.  They have all kinds of fun stuff for kids.  A stage with costumes, a grocery store, banks and fire dept.  There is a display of old neon signs.  (Which is pretty cool.)  There is an awesome section for the little ones where they a can mine silver. (Pretend silver of course.)  There are arts and crafts, a karaoke room, a place where kids can play basketball in a wheel chair, lots of science related exhibits.  Plan to be there ALL DAY.  Pack your own lunch.  There is no where to eat nearby.  It is closed on Mondays.  Also, sadly it is not in a good part of town.  It is very near the skid row section of Las Vegas.  It is attached to the Public Library and a lot of sketchy characters hang out outside.  Once your inside it’s great, but keep a close eye on your kids coming and going.

Las Vegas Natural History Museum *** This is pretty nice.  Once again, it’s small.  But, if your kids like dinosaurs they have animated ones.  There is also a cool open tank of sharks you can view. It is across the street from the Lied Museum. This will take about 3 hours to see it all.

Star Trek Experience **** We never made it to the Star Trek Experience because it was too expensive.  BUT, we did eat at Quarks Bar & Restaurant a couple times.  It was FUN!  If you like Star Trek I recommend eating here! There are very realistic characters who come around to the tables.  I about fainted when I came out of the restroom and encountered a Borg!  LOL  The one time we took the kids a Klingon came to our table and scared my daughter to death!  LOL  When my daughter dove under the table the Klingon totally stayed in character and chastised my husband and I “Did you not warn your young earthling that there would be Klingons here?!”  LOL  (Can you see a theme by now of my daughter being completely terrified of the strip!  LOL) We also got a good laugh when the Quark tried to get us to pay by leaving one of our children with him!  LOL

Ethel M Chocolate Factory **** I am giving this 4 stars but I am also saying this is four stars only at Christmas time!  The actually chocolate factory tour is pretty lame.  It is self guided and only takes a few minutes.  Plus they only give you one piece of chocolate for visiting!  LOL  BUT, in the month of December they decorate the cactus garden that is out front with thousands of lights.  It is truly beautiful and was our favorite Christmas thing to do in Las Vegas. You can see pictures from one of our visits HERE. 

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area  **** (Winter only)  This is a wonderful beautiful place that you will hardly be able to believe is right outside Las Vegas!  You will feel a world away from the strip!  If you enjoy hiking there are a lot of great trails.  Ask at the visitor center how to hike to the waterfall.  (It’s dry in the Summer.  Feb. is the perfect month to go see it.) This was a favorite hang out stop for our family. Click here to see my post about a field trip we took to Red Rock. 

Bonnie Springs *** (Winter only) If you are looking for good old fashion fun this is the place!  LOL  (I am talking as hokie as you can get!)  My kids liked it. There is a train to ride, a couple of old west shows and some shops.  The best part is the petting zoo. You can get very up close and personal with the animals. Makes for a fun day!  It’s about 25 minutes from the strip.

Freemont Street Experience *** This is fun to go to at night.  They boast the world’s largest TV!  LOL  There are shows on the hour and you will be amazed.  Go to the website and see what is playing when.  Some are more family friendly than others!  Mermaids is a bar/casino on Fremont Street where you can get .99 cent fried Twinkies and Oreos!  (Don't take the kids inside. Mom stands outside with the kids and dad goes in for treats! LOL) This was another big night out for us when we lived in Las Vegas. The shows are free of course! 

Don't Sees!

Pirate Show at Treasure Island – The pirate show is no longer kid friendly. It is suppose to be sexy, I thought it was really lame.  Yes, my husband and I went and saw it right before we left.  I wanted to know what all the hoopla was about. I couldn’t believe all these people waste their time seeing something so stupid!

Excalibur - While there is nothing really wrong with Excalibur, there isn't really much there for kids.  We went to the buffet a couple times and I was always disappointed that a building that looked so cartoonish had so little for kids. The best part is what you can see from the car driving by, the building!

 Okay, with all this said I just want to warn to be on guard the whole time you are in Las Vegas with your kids.  I would warn them ahead of time that there will be times you are just going to tell them to close their eyes and they need to obey.  You need to be vigilant to do things like distracting the kids as you drive passed certain billboards and turning over placemats that have half nude women on them.  (Been there done that!) Even as I was preparing this post I was amazed how many hiney’s and how much cleavage I was exposed to just looking at Las Vegas websites.  I am already forgetting how prominent that atmosphere is in Las Vegas!  (Thank God!)

Whew, that is enough for now!  Tomorrow I will try to post on our favorite places to eat in Las Vegas.